Read Tunnels 04, Closer for Free Online Page A

massive arch, despite the difficulty of seeing through the glassy and overheated air.
    She entered the gateway.
    There was a rumble of thunder as the rain started. She could hear it sizzling as it fell on the hot pavement, and her sister began to move her head. "That's nice," Rebecca One whispered as it splattered her face. She was repeatedly opening and closing her mouth as if trying to catch the drops.
    But Rebecca Two was hardly noticing the rain as it turned into a heavy downpour. She stood in the middle of the gateway, held in thrall by what lay beyond.
    Rows of houses.
    Cars in the distance.
    People.
    "Good God," she exhaled.
    It could have been any European city -- the architecture wasn't exactly modern, but the terraces of houses and shops either side of her were clean and in good repair. She carried her sister through the open gates, looking around her as she kept to the middle of the wide avenue. She heard strains of an opera playing from somewhere. It sounded thin and over shrill, as if it was piped music, and Rebecca Two thought she could spot the source -- an open window further down the way.
    "No lights," she said to herself, realizing that street lamps were redundant in this world of permanent day.
    She moved toward the nearest building. From its appearance she assumed it was some sort of office, with blinds pulled down inside all its windows. By the door was an engraved copper panel bearing a name and some writing. " Schmidts ," she read. " Zahnarzte . Nach Verabredung ."
    "German... a dentist," Rebecca One mumbled, squinting an eye open. "To mend my broken teeth."
    Rebecca Two was about to reply when she turned to see someone. A woman had just emerged from the property next to the dentist's with two young boys in tow. She was descending backwards down the small flight of steps to the pavement as she tried to keep the children covered by her umbrella. She was wearing a cream-colored blouse and a calf-length skirt of grey, and on her head was a hat with a wide brim. She looked as if she had stepped from a newsreel of fifty years ago. Hardly current fashion , Rebecca Two noted. The boys were both no more than six or seven years old, and dressed identically in fawn-colored jackets and short trousers of matching color.
    "Um... hello," Rebecca Two said pleasantly. "I really need your help."
    The woman wheeled around. There was a moment in which she stared in open-mouthed horror. Then she screamed and dropped her umbrella, which was caught by a sudden gust of wind and whisked off down the street. Seizing hold of the boys' hands, she almost yanked them off their feet as she fled. She was still screaming in alarm, but the boys were trying to look back, their eyes wide with wonder.
    "I don't think we're dressed appropriately," Rebecca Two said, noting that she and her sister must look quite disconcerting. Their faces were filthy and their clothes burnt, torn, and plastered with mud and blood.
    "What's going on? Are you getting me some help?" Rebecca One asked weakly, as her sister sat down on the bottom step in front of the building that the woman had just left.
    "Be patient," Rebecca Two replied. She made sure her sister was propped securely against the railings at the side of the steps, then moved to the curbside. She glanced down at the gutter, where the rainwater was collecting and coursing into the drains. "We won't have to wait long for some attention," she added, pushing her sodden hair from her face.
    And sure enough it was less than thirty seconds before sirens began to sound in the metropolis, a low howling that resonated between the buildings. A small crowd of people had collected on a far corner to watch the Rebeccas, but they were making sure they kept their distance.
    A vehicle swished down the wet street and skidded to a halt. It was an army lorry, and as the tailgate crashed open a squad of soldiers disembarked, their rifles at the ready. Rebecca Two estimated there were around twenty of them. Another